Why Good City Living Is a Human Right

Social movements like the New Urbanist and Eco Cities are working to root out unjust urban policies, born of prior centuries' segregation laws, by taking advantage of city infrastructure and economic policy. "Urban planning built around public transport and walkable spaces has enormous potential to make urban color and class lines more porous and thus create cities that are at once more just and sustainable." Affordable housing developments built in cities' empty cores can help revitalize local economies and strengthen sustainability projects to help communities live better together.

What's the Big Idea?

As humanity trends toward city living, issues of urban justice have never been more relevant. Many American cities, like Baltimore, still bear scars from the segregationist policies of centuries gone by when public facilities, even entire city blocks, were legally divided along racial lines. But with more than half the world living in large population centers, creating a more equitable society will mean offering different cross sections of the population improved access to city resources like housing, education and political institutions.

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